John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 20:17

"Nevertheless mine eye spared them, and I destroyed them not, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness." — Ezekiel 20:17 (ASV)

This is added because God often afflicted the people with heavy punishments, but he restrained himself so that he would not utterly destroy both their persons and their name. He says, then, that he spared them for the sake of his own name, as he previously said, that he should not execute consumption on them; that is, so that he would not utterly blot out their memory. He did not spare them entirely to foster their depravity by his indulgence, but as we will later see, he withdrew his hand so that he would not consume them, as he might most justly have done.